Fresh Prince's Alfonso Ribeiro is suing Epic over use of his Carlton Dance in Fortnite
Alfonso Ribeiro, the actor most famously known for portraying Carlton Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is taking Epic Games to court.
Like rapper 2 Milly before him, Ribeiro is suing Epic Games for using his famous dance without permission or compensation.
The actor performed a particular dance on the show, which became known as the Carlton. In Fortnite, the dance was recreated as the Fresh emote, which is clearly inspired by the Carlton. The Fresh emote sells for 800 V-Bucks, which is around $8.
According to TMZ, Ribeiro is in the process of claiming copyright for the dance. This is important because dances aren't typically protected against copyright infringement unless the creator went to the lengths of actually copyrighting them.
"Epic has earned record profits off of downloadable content in the game, including emotes like 'Fresh.' Yet Epic has failed to compensate or even ask permission from Mr. Ribeiro for the use of his likeness and iconic intellectual property," said Ribeiro's attorney, David Hecht.
Interestingly, this is the same law firm that filed 2 Milly's complaint against Epic. Ribeiro also filed another lawsuit against 2K Games for using the same dance in the NBA 2K series.
Image via NY Daily News.